Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
🔒 The assets of the former UMH of Kurchenko remain under the control of the Goldskyi family and the old managers
In the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, media assets associated with fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko continue to operate. They are formally distributed among members of Viktor Goldskyi’s family and the holding’s former managers, while actual control is likely concentrated in a single hand. Hollskyi is formally an employee of businessman Maksym Shkil.
In June 2013 Kurchenko’s VETEK company bought one of the largest Ukrainian media holdings — UMH group (Ukrainian Media Holding). By Kurchenko’s own admission, the deal cost about 340 million dollars. Management was carried out by the specially created “VETEK-Media.” UMH founder Borys Lozhkin insisted the transaction was market-based, but many experts spoke of political motivation and the preparation of the information field for the 2015 year.
After Kurchenko fled to Russia in 2014 UMH assets were arrested and transferred to ARMA’s management. Some of them were later sold or re-registered.
In 2018 the internet publication Comments.UA (formerly a key Kurchenko media outlet) became owned by Viktor Goldskyi. From 2014 to 2015 he worked at UMH Group as commercial director under Olena Bondarenko — then chair of the holding’s supervisory board and a former MP from the Party of Regions.
Goldskyi now serves as editor-in-chief of part of the information resources of the former UMH and publishes commissioned articles. He is the official beneficiary of LLC COMMENTS TODAY and the owner of the domain name comments.ua.
Goldskyi is married to Olha Khoroshaieva, who owns part of the assets, including LLC To sho nado and LLC Publishing House Masavi. According to open sources, her relatives are involved in the scheme.
A telling example is the history of LLC Evolution Media. Kurchenko bought this company in 2013 and registered it to the Cypriot Sherell Limited. After his flight, the structure was re-registered and the ultimate owner became Yevhen Nazarenko — Olha Khoroshaieva’s stepfather, that is, Goldskyi’s father-in-law. According to the investigation, the deal showed signs of formal re-registration: Goldskyi exerts actual control. LLC Evolution Media appears in the declaration of Nina Khoroshaieva (Olha’s mother and Nazarenko’s wife), who serves as head of the Health Care Department of the Brovary City Council. Khoroshaieva also owns a share in the Kyiv Weekly trademark — another former UMH asset.
Thus, formally the assets (“Komentari.UA,” “Evolution Media,” “Kyiv Weekly”) are distributed among the “family trio” Goldskyi–Khoroshaieva–Nazarenko, but journalists conclude that real management is concentrated in Goldskyi’s hands. Neither Nina Khoroshaieva nor Yevhen Nazarenko take part in the actual activities of these entities. Sherell Limited was previously recognized by courts as an entity associated with the criminal organization of the Yanukovych era.
A key role in preserving operational control is played by Volodymyr Brechko (a native of Irpin). He remains director of most of the companies that formerly belonged to UMH.
In the GetContact app his number is listed under tags such as “Vova Brechko VETEK,” “Volodia Mediaholding,” “Volodia Brechko Kurchenko,” “Ukrainian media holding,” and similar.
Among the companies where Brechko is director: PJSC STUDIO “EUROPOSITIV”, LLC UMH-MOBILE, LLC KORESPONDENT, LLC UKRAINIAN MEDIA HOLDING, LLC UMH PUBLISHING HOUSE, LLC BIGMIR ONLINE, and dozens more (radio groups, publishers, production companies).
💬 ABleaks_bot
💕 Join
Telegram publication
